Brisket smoke ring

DMDon

DMDon

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I am having problems getting a smoke ring on brisket. I use a BWS gator with sand in the water pan and a pan of water on top of it. I trim up the point so no fat is left on it but do not fully seperate it from teh flat. I leave a little fat between the point and flat and a quarter inch on the baskside of the flat. Then I brine with 1 cup salt and 1 cup sugar per gallon of water for 4 hours. Then inject with Butcher block and rub with a combo of Smokin Guns hot and Uncle Erneis and let set for 4 hours. Then in the smoker at 250 with wicked good charcoal and cherry wood till it hits 165. Then wrap in fiol till done. It turns out very moist and tender but no smoke ring. Any suggestions?
 
I don't know if the brining has an effect or not, but I've never brined a brisket. I'd be afraid of it starting to cure a bit.

Do you put the brisket on cold? The longer it's below 140 or so, the more chance for a smoke ring....

But smoke ring doesn't really matter... taste matters.
 
Put the brisket on ice cold and wet. Don't dry it off before putting the rub on. Also, consider throwing it on before the smoker comes up to temp. My stick burner produces a much larger smoke ring than my WSM, even though the meats are prepared identically. So the cooker plays a big factor too.

I agree with Curt that the smoke ring probably doesn't matter, but it looks good and certainly doesn't hurt.
 
I have a tough time getting a really good smoke ring on my briskets with the spicewine. Not sure why. I'm thinking I like Paul's idea of putting on colder. I've always sort of let them come up a bit in temp but longer in the smoke before it reaches 140 degrees internal can't hurt.
 
Start the cook at lower temps 200 to 225. As other suggested put the brisket in cold. At 3 hour mark or when the internal on the brisket hits 140 then turn up the heat to 250 mark.

Your cooker, a Spicewine, WSM, any cooker that moves low amounts of smoke through the cooker will have problem producing smokering unless you modify the cooking process.
 
I put my briskits in my WSM cold & moist, then hit it with wood chunks heavy for first hour or so as WSM is coming up to temps (i let it run for about 15 min after adding hot coals) and keep wood burried in spots in the ring for smoke intervals. Get a nice ring around the meat, not to much - just enough. The smoke ring isn't as important to me as the taste IMHO, but surte looks purty...
 
Don,
I would get the best ring when I put the brisket on COLD. I mean cold too, but not frozen. You may also want to lower the pit temp to 180 or 200 for a couple hours before you crank it up to your regular cooking temp.

If all that don't work, there is always TQ. Works every time.
 
Smoke ring doesn't matter in a contest, supposedly. I've placed 1st with a brisket with basically very very little smoke ring, and 100% celebrity judges.. and you'd think they'd be more critical to not having a smoke ring.

just cook it good.. and present it well.
 
I too have had better smoke rings on my brisket when I put the meat in straight out of the fridge or cooler. I have also thought that starting the cook off at 200° for the first 2 hours or so, seems to help the smoke ring. Let us know how your practice goes with details on what you did. :)
 
I don't believe the coldness of the brisket has anything to do with the smoke ring. I let my briskets sit for about a half hour to 45 min and I get great smoke rings.
088.jpg


It probably has more to do with how much smoke your producing. I believe there's a thread about the salt content in the rub. Never brined either, so can't comment on whether that effects it.
 
Jeff_in_KC said:
I have a tough time getting a really good smoke ring on my briskets with the spicewine. Not sure why. I'm thinking I like Paul's idea of putting on colder. I've always sort of let them come up a bit in temp but longer in the smoke before it reaches 140 degrees internal can't hurt.
Click to expand...

Jeff, how far closed do you run the exhaust on you SW? I noticed when I cranked it closed more, the ring formed better. I think " almost two turns" open seems right. Just a thought.
 
It probably has to do with the brine, Salt changes color of the meat, so may not hold the ring. For example, if you dip a piece of brisket with a nice ring in some beef broth the rings goes almost away.
 
Found this on about.com...


A smoke ring is a pink discoloration of meat just under the surface crust (called bark). It can be just a thin line of pink or a rather thick layer. The smoke rings is caused by nitric acid building up in the surface of meat, absorbed from the surface. This nitric acid is formed when nitrogen dioxide from wood combustion in smoke mixes with water in the meat. Basically it is a chemical reaction between the smoke and the meat. So how to do you get the best smoke ring? Opinions vary. Generally water soaked wood produces more nitrogen dioxide loaded smoke. If you really want to make sure you get a smoke ring then cheat. Coating meat with a salt tenderizer link Morton's Tender Quick, will load up the surface of the meat with nitrogen dioxide and give you a great smoke ring. Because of the prevalence of this kind of cheating, smoke rings are no longer taken into consideration in barbecue competitions.
 
Thanks for the help so far, keep the ideas coming. I don't care to try the tender quick. But I will try soaking the wood first. My other thought is wiping off the extra butcher block that oozes out of the meat, I had been rubbing it over the meat to help the rub stick. I wonder if it prevents the smoke from penetrating the meat.
 
DMDon said:
My other thought is wiping off the extra butcher block that oozes out of the meat, I had been rubbing it over the meat to help the rub stick. I wonder if it prevents the smoke from penetrating the meat.
Click to expand...


The liquid acts like a conductor and enhances the smoke. Your ring will be even less pronounced if you wipe it off first. Cook two briskets side by side and you'll see a noticeable difference.
 
BBQNUTT said:
Found this on about.com...

The smoke rings is caused by nitric acid building up in the surface of meat, absorbed from the surface.
Click to expand...

That's article is not exactly correct, but it's reasonably close.

And while it's true that smoke ring is not supposed to be judged in KCBS, it is a positive factor in appearance for most judges. If you were to present two identical boxes to 100 judges, with the only difference being one brisket has a nice smoke ring and the other doesn't, I believe the brisket with the smoke ring would slightly outscore the one without.
 
I would play with the temps of the meat when you put it on and the temp of the cooker.

DMDon said:
Thanks for the help so far, keep the ideas coming. I don't care to try the tender quick.
Click to expand...
I would avoid it as well. You may end up with mild version of corned beef.

DMDon said:
But I will try soaking the wood first.
Click to expand...
I would avoid soaking the wood as well. All you are going to do is generate steam and thick plumes of white (bad) smoke. You need the full combustion of the wood to produce the 'Thin Blue' that we all look for.

Also, try this. Soak an average size piece of wood for say 24 hours and cut it in half and see how much the water soaks in... In my experiance, it's no more than 1/4 inch.

DMDon said:
My other thought is wiping off the extra butcher block that oozes out of the meat, I had been rubbing it over the meat to help the rub stick. I wonder if it prevents the smoke from penetrating the meat.
Click to expand...
If that was the case I would think that slathering with mustard would have the same effect but it doesn't.
 
Got these results on my WSM in only 3 hours @ 225-250. It's a 5 lb flat that I cooked in a foil tray for 3 hours then double foil wrapped for another 2 hours then coolered for 1 hour. This was oak and hickory chunks.

IMG_4607.jpg


IMG_4606.jpg
 
The Pickled Pig said:
The liquid acts like a conductor and enhances the smoke. Your ring will be even less pronounced if you wipe it off first. Cook two briskets side by side and you'll see a noticeable difference.
Click to expand...


Agreed. I get amazing smoke rings on my FEC-100. Ironic for a pellet cooker, eh? I always leave the Butchers on that oozes out.
 
G$ said:
Jeff, how far closed do you run the exhaust on you SW? I noticed when I cranked it closed more, the ring formed better. I think " almost two turns" open seems right. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

Honestly, been running it a little more open than before since I started using the Guru with it. Without the guru, I was open 2 and a half turns. With the Guru, 3 and a half turns. I think I'll cut it down a bit and see what happens. Thanks!
 
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